2011 November update

I started skiing at the age of 3 when I was introduced to the sport by my parents on family holidays. Coming from a sporty family I did many different sports and it was only at the age of 12 before I started skiing competitively. I was selected to ski for England at 13 years old and at that point my focus on skiing became more serious.

After a successful alpine ski career I changed discipline to the new exciting freestyle event of ski cross in 2005. Various ski coaches advised me that my skiing style and attitude would be suited to this new extreme event and at the World University Games, in my first ever ski cross race, I finished in 6th position.

I have never looked back since then, ski cross is the ultimate downhill race with the biggest adrenaline rush.

Having travelled the World Cup circuit for the past 4 seasons I slashed my World Cup ranking to a career high of 20th in 2008 and achieved the best result for all British female skiers, finishing 11th in the ski cross world cup finals in Italy. I am also five times British champion and finished 16th in the 2007 ski cross Freestyle Skiing World Championships in Italy.

Due to a serious knee injury in 2009, I missed over half the season. Fortunately surgery was successful and due to the hard work I put in over the summer of 2009 to recover, I am back racing World Cups.

In the 2010 season I created British Skiing history by becoming the first British Female Skier ever to win a Skiing Europa Cup race!

I had a strong finish to the 2011 season with a season's best 14th in the World Cup, Grindelwald, Switzerland and I still remain Britain's No.1 ski cross athlete.

My goals are to consistently place in the worlds top 10 for ski cross and to compete in the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Russia.

 

 

2010/11 Season Review
by Emily Sarsfield
The 2010 summer gave me a good break to train hard in the gym. I worked on my right leg bulking it up and getting it strong from the previous knee injury I had in 2009.
Towards the end of summer my team mate Peter Whelan and I headed to Argentina for some South American cups. Argentina offered some great races and training opportunities alongside the Canadian National Team. With Pete winning the men's race and myself placing 3rd in the women's competition it was a successful trip and the perfect confidence booster prior to the new winter season!
The aim for this winter was to have a huge smile on my face. Not only to ensure I was enjoying what I was doing, but I know from experience that when I'm in a 'happy place' I'm relaxed and this is when I ski best! The 2009/10 winter season was really tough emotionally with Olympic politics and injury woes, so it was important to me as an athlete that my 'love' for ski cross was still there!
The first races of the season were great and I crossed the finish line with a smile every time! My results were consistent and everything felt good both physically and mentally. This was an exciting winter for us British ski cross athletes as the World Cup team had been offered support from TASS (Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme), a much needed, and welcome addition. With the financial support we knew we had to work as a team and devise a plan putting it all into a pot to make it spread as far as possible. The pot was formed and we decided to employ a ski technician for the European races prior to the World Championships, which enabled us to full rest between training sessions and races and concentrate on skiing fast!
This season saw the World Freestyle Championships take place in Deer Valley, America. Sarah Sauvey, Peter Whelan and I (the world cup team) headed over. It should have been four of us, but unfortunately Craig Robinson was seriously injured in the first World Cup and was missing. On arrival we joined with all the other freestyle teams: This is always fun as we don't often cross paths with the other Freestyle athletes with the other discipline events normally taking place at different places on a different schedule, so it is really nice to be part of a larger GB team.
The course the World Championships was fun, but it had some technical elements and a very tricky uphill section where it was so important to get the earlier features technically perfect in order to carry the speed through. I had a good race and placed 19th making the final heats. This was my first time in the heats all season, so I was a little out of my comfort zone and unfortunately this lack of experience showed in my start: The slow start out of the blocks meant I didn't finish in the top two and advance through to the quarter finals. 19th place was still a great result at the World Championships so I was really pleased! Unfortunately 'with good news always comes bad'! In the qualification I landed awkwardly on a jump and the knee I injured in 2009 reacted quite severely so I had to miss out on the next World Cup in Canada and headed back to the UK for another MRI. The knee reaction turned out to be my cartilage being a little unhappy after some hard landings and it settled down with some rest and some top work from Suzanne my physio. Suzanne and I decided it would be fine for the final season races as long as we monitored it regularly and taped it well, so Suzanne did what she does best and taped me up and I was good to ski in the Swiss World Cups in March.
With a carefully budgeted season I managed to gain enough support from Ladies Ski Club (thanks ladies and gents), TASS and my other sponsors to pay for a coach in my final two world cups in Switzerland. This was something I was really excited about. Since I started ski cross back in 2005 I have taught myself this exciting sport from observing others and asking for the odd tip from other nations team coaches, piecing it all together and basically just giving it a go! Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't and I ended up with a few bruises. However, one thing is for certain: I have come a long way in ski cross feeling more confident every season, but now I was able to afford a coach and I was eager to see what difference it could make.
My coach was Christian, ex French team and previous World Cup winner to take the role, and during these two world cups he was invaluable. He removed many of the jobs (and hence stress), which I usually have to undertake at races: He attended captains meetings, helped prepare my skis, inspected the courses with me and provided the crucial feedback needed in this tactical sport to improve and win. He instilled confidence in me, showing me I could do it and be the best in the world.
Compared to previous World Cup races, I have never felt more focused and professional. Course inspection with Christian was like no other I had done before: I knew within centimetres where I was taking off each feature and what muscles were being tensed at what point. This might seem bizarre to an outsider; that I had not already done this in my five years in the sport, but I have never had a coach with the intimate knowledge of Ski Cross to support me and coach me in these matters and all previous skills I had picked up from watching others!
When I came to ski the course, I felt 100% confident in my ability, technique and tactics. Christian believed in me 100% and I could sense this, so I did not want to let him down. This support not only made me feel better but the proof was in the pudding and I finished 14th in Grindlewald qualifying for the quarter finals, and beating peers who had been on the podium and won world cups, this was by far my best result in world cup ever!
I now have new ideas: The coach did exactly what I thought it would do and improve my performance, but I didn't expect such a vast overnight improvement, taking two seconds off my usual time! Now I can't imagine going back and need a full time coach so I can be one of the best ski cross racers in the world. My new challenge is "How can I find the money to pay for a coach" as this is what is going to make me be the best in the world!
The summer is here and I am constantly writing to companies and thinking of ideas to raise the finance to fund a coach. Unfortunately winter sports will no longer be receiving 2014 TASS funding, which was my saviour this past season, but as always 'if there's a will, there's a way' and I am determined to find a way!
The end of the season really ended on a high. After my World Cup 14th I went on to win the British Champs. It was also great to have the GB team there and the boys showed the other racers how it's done with Peter Whelan, Greg Samuels and Marek Benke taking first, second and third respectively.
The final part to my season was spent ski instructing and coaching young British racers. I love putting back in to the sport as I have gained so much from it. And watching the different racers develop is really interesting and rewarding.
Another little money earner for me to add to the competing pot is Ski Instructing. Teaching children and adults alike, the art of this great sport is for me amazing and rewarding: Watching them learn and the joy on their faces when 'it clicks'! I taught quite a few infants this Easter and it was amazing to see such little people control their skis down the mountain: It comes so easy to children because they just go, go, go, where as some of the adults new to skiing tend to analyse it and engineer there way down the slopes! During one week of ski school I taught two brothers, a four and six year old that had never skied before! By day three I felt they were confident and skilled enough for me to take them down a red run! They loved it!! And after mum and dad got over the shock they were so proud!
I am now in mid swing of summer strength and fitness training and super excited to the coming season, and looking forward to telling you all about some amazing results next year! I would just like to say thank you to everyone involved in the Ladies Ski Club and for all your support and to my sponsors this season Life Boat Tea, Marmalade Ski School, TASS, Head, Animal, Solutions4Feet and Jons Ski Tuning. With all your help I can continue to compete in the exciting sport of ski cross!

Dear Ladies Ski Club

I just wanted to give you a little update on the end of season, now that it's pretty much over for me.

I have just returned from The Brits in Laax with the British Ski Cross title so everything has ended on a high! I will try put the podcasts and media about this event on my website but more info can be found at the-Brits.com and Ski Club of GB. Thanks so much for putting my blogs up... I've got one finally one to close the season, which Dan should be sending through very soon!

My final world cups went amazingly well as I managed to scrape the rest of my money together and employ a ski cross coach... the first time I have been able to do this in six years because of your amazing support. And the difference it made was remarkable! Finishing 14th in a comp I was originally ranked 28th, beating girls who have finished on the world cup podium this season. This just shows a world cup podium is absolutely possible with the right support! So, on that note I am now on a mission to find enough support for my next seasons expenses and the coaches salary. This way I can be one of the best, if not the best on the world cup tour and put British skiing in the map! Any more help, advice or contacts you can offer me would be greatly appreciated!

And thank you again, so much, for your amazing support this season! The sponsorship you kindly gave me made such a huge difference!!!

Em x

from world champs to world beating

22nd March 2011

Now the World Cup season is over I've got time to breath and write another blog! I hope over the last 6 weeks you saw a few press releases with my race results and also saw me on Eurosport 2!! Anyway, this is what I've been up to since my last blog. Enjoy!

I wrote my last blog from Deer Valley, Utah, USA where I was invited to compete at the FIS Freestyle Skiing World Champs. It is one of the only competitions where we all get together as one whole freestyle ski team with the Ski Cross, Moguls, Aerials, Slopestyle and Halfpipe athletes. And the buzz in the team was great and so we all got together for the opening ceremony in the centre of Park City, Utah. Park City know how to throw a party!

Back to the Ski Cross World Champs… The course was built well and it was great fun to ride. With a tricky uphill section, it was really important to get it right and then be able to carry the speed across the final flat section. Training went well and I was ready for the race. Placing 19th I was really happy, but the competition was really close and if I was only half a second quicker I would have been in the top 15. However, 19th still meant I qualified for the heats so my mind set had to change ready to race the course head to head with other riders... not as easy as I thought. I had not experienced heat racing for five months, so getting the mind set for this was quite tough... I still gave it a good shot, but unfortunately I didn't finish in the top two of my heat and missed the quarterfinals. Saying that, 19th place in the World Championships isn't a bad job for a Brit!!

 

Unfortunately my 19th place came with some bad news too... I had over-jumped a feature on the course and my knee reacted quite badly to it. With advice from physios and doctors they were not sure on the damage and left me strapping and icing for the next few days hoping it would be OK for the next World Cup in Blue Mountain, Canada.

We headed to Canada but my knee was still quite upset with swelling. And rather than risking my knee and possibly causing more damage, I decided not to race and headed back to the UK for an MRI scan. The MRI result was OK; I hadn't caused any acute damage, but unfortunately my cartilage was and continues to suffer badly and may need more attention over the summer. However, I was given the go ahead that I could race in the remaining races of the season.

After the MRI scan and with a gap in the World Cup calendar, I had a couple of weeks down time to rest my knee and do some ski instructing, earning much needed pennies and helping me carry on with my sport. It was nice having a change from the high speed carving and jumping and helping people learn the basics of a new sport... the joy on their faces when they master it is priceless!

After teaching next stop was Switzerland for two World Cups!!

Due to my amazing financial sponsors, Lifeboat Tea, Ladies Ski Club, Ski Marmalade and the Balches, I was able to invest in the two Swiss races the way I would love to normally be able to compete in Ski Cross. I took my trusty physio Suzanne and a coach... yes you heard it... A COACH! I have always wondered what it would be like to have a Ski Cross specific coach and you're about to find out…

Christian Cretier ex French team Ski Cross racer, podium World Cups and represented France in the X Games was available to help me, which I was stoked about as not only do I respect him as an athlete, he is a genuinely nice guy wanting to help.

What a difference a Coach makes!
We headed over to Grindlewald with my boyfriend Dave (the driver), Suzanne and Christian... I had a proper little entourage, amazing! Christian soon jumped into his roll as coach when he spotted me pinching one of Dave's Maltesers and told me off! It was really refreshing having someone doing this, as for so long your a one man (woman) band, which is very hard to keep motivated 24/7, 365 days a year, so I welcomed the strictness of a coach! We turned up at our lodging, a beautiful 4 star hotel over looking the Eiger... amazing, what a great start to the competition!

Unfortunately the first day of training was cancelled due to the wet warm snow conditions, but we headed up the mountain to take a look at the course anyway and do a little bit of 'training'. A slow day, but at least I had the course imagery in my head. I ran over it in my head 20 times before I went to bed, so I was ready the next day to ski! We only had two training runs before qualification, which meant we had to get used to the jumps really quickly. With no turns in the final part of the course, it was interesting getting used to the speed, it was like a downhill with big jumps every 50 metres!

It was time for qualification and I was ready, I headed out the start gate with MY entourage screaming "go, go, go" at me. The race felt OK, but when I heard the announcer read my time and place me 13th, I was gobsmacked. I had jumped 15 places from my start bib and was now in the mix with the top racers in the world, beating two top eight world ranked athletes!! The quarterfinal heats on the final day were great fun, but with lack of heat experience this year I did not advance to the semi finals. Still, I finished in 14th place, my best result for three years!! All the coaches and athletes congratulated me, it was great to turn some heads.

We set off that evening to Meiringen for the next World Cup. Again it was a great course with lots of jumps and turns. I had a few issues with the first feature, a wu-tang, but I made it down in 22nd place. And although I didn't qualify for the heats I had beaten my early season peers by about two seconds, so I could definitely see the improvements Christian had given me!

What a difference a coach made... it has made me so excited for the future and confirmed I am capable of being up there and competing with the best girls in the world… roll on the future next years World Cups!!

To try and save some pennies for next season (I don't know yet if I will be receiving TASS funding), I decided not to travel to Sweden and Norway for the final world cups of the season, so my next stop was going to be the French Champs, but this has now been cancelled. However, I will be at the Brits this Thursday in Laax!! Hopefully I'll see some of you there!!

Take care,

Em x

10 March 2011

Grindelwald Switzerland, Ski Cross World Cup - 3rd March 2011
SARSFIELD'S SWISS SUCCESS

The eighth Ski Cross World Cup race of a gruelling season took place today in Grindelwald Switzerland, where British Ski Cross Team member Emily Sarsfield, 27, beat world cup ranked number 7, Katrin Mueller and world cup ranked number eight, Jenny Owens, to place 14th, Sarsfield's best result World Cup result of the season and her best result since seriously injuring her knee in 2009.

"What an amazing last few days its been and a brilliant result to finish it.
"I had a new coach, Christian for this race and my trusted physio Suzanne, which made such a big difference to my race preparation, on and off the hill.
"With funding tight, I don't usually benefit from an experienced Ski Cross coach!" Sarsfield said after the race.

"Having a coach and physio has only been possible for some of this seasons [Ski Cross World Cup] races thanks to Ladies Ski Club, TASS (Talented Athlete Sports Scholarship) and my new tea sponsor providing some of the finance to fund them.
"With government cut backs, I don't know if I will be receiving TASS next season, so I'm trying to make the most of it this season." she added.

With funding short across British Skiing, Sarsfield's result is even more impressive in one of the most exciting Winter Olympic sports going.

The Ski Cross World Cup continues with race nine taking place this Sunday, 6th March where Sarsfield will be looking to better her 14th place.

ALPE D'HUEZ AND LES CONTAMINES
Tuesday, 1 February 2011

It was a really busy January and I've realised I haven't blogged for at least a month now… So here is what I've been up to: Well it is more of an essay than a blog, but I hope you enjoy it!

At the beginning of January I spent 6 days walking up mountains in Courchevel for my ski instructor diploma. I had to sacrifice a world cup race to do the diploma, but I didn't mind, as it was part of my further studies in support of my TASS funding. I'm not really made for walking up mountains but it was really interesting and great fitness: Learning to read mountain terrain and avalanche triggers. I passed the diploma which was all the better!

Straight after the diploma, it was time to get the Head Racing Skis on again and travel to the next stop on the world cup tour: A short journey to Alpe d'huez! The Alpe d'huez course was pretty big with some huge gap jumps and features I had never skied in ski cross courses before! The evening we arrived it dumped 2 feet of snow... perfect for a powder day but not perfect for the course. It affected the build and more importantly made the course a lot slower, so the jumps were harder to clear! Training day was mentally pretty tough as the conditions were very similar to that when I badly injured my knee and it was the first time I had come across these conditions post surgery. However, with some discussions (and tears) with my coach we mentally deconstructed the course, taking it section by section, which built on my confidence, and I felt much better by the end of training. Unfortunately I didn't complete the course on the training day, so I still had this burden hanging over me before qualification day, and to make it worse, due to TV constraints we were only allowed 1 training run on the qualification day where we normally take a few! On qualification day I managed to keep my head clear, approached the course confidently and completed the 1 and only training run. I was now relaxed and ready to do the race. A few mistakes were inevitable but I finished in 29th place, so considering the build up I was really happy with the result. Unfortunately my teammate Sarah didn't have a great race day and fell just before the final jump, going up the side ramp and falling off the other side in a tangle! She was extremely lucky not to be seriously injured and although she got yet another ski to the face meaning she needed 17 stitches in her cheek, she only got some soft tissue damage to her legs. Anyway she is all recovered and both her and I are ready for the World Championships in a few days time!

Straight after Alpe d'huez was Les Contamines, France. Les Contamines have run a great competition for donkeys' years now and they always have an exciting course, which I was really looking forward to! The course didn't let me down and it was great fun, the race went well and I placed 25th, unfortunately due to TV they only took 16 girls to the finals so I didn't get to race in the heats... I can't wait to get in there racing head to head!

Thanks to Mike the TASS physio and Suzanne, the physio from Geneva (in the photo with me) who has supported us before, you were as usual a massive help and we really appreciate all your help on and off the hill to keep us in the best form for racing!!!

Well, just signing off now… I'm writing this blog from Deer Valley in the USA where this week the FIS Freestyle Skiing World Championships are taking place. Before travelling here I spent a few days in New York with my manager Dan and sister Vic, to help with the jet lag and relax… it was great fun and Dan and Vic have also travelled with me to the World Championships!! Ski cross is this Thursday and Friday so keep an eye out for me on Eurosport 2!!

Take care,
Em

17 December 2010

AUSTRIA NERVES, BUT READY FOR THE WORLD CUP!!!

Another winter has arrived! The summer always comes and goes so quickly, but as fun and as hard work as it has been, I think I'm a winter girl at heart and already enjoying snowy mountains, roaring fires and donning the beanie!

It should be a great winter with a GB Ski Cross team working together on a programme for the first time ever... quite an exciting prospect. The World Cup Team are extremely grateful for the support from TASS (Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme) which is allowing us to set up the new structure! We have bought in the support of US Ski Coach and Technician Jeffery Sadis to work with Sarah Sauvey, Peter Whelan, Craig Robinson and me and we are looking forward to an exciting winter!!

However, whilst I am very grateful for the TASS funding and sponsorship from Ladies Ski Club I am also very disappointed to hear that skiing and snowboarding will get no funding from UK Sport for Sochi 2014 particularly as Ski Cross made such a big impact at the Olympics in February. We have some talented ski and snowboard athletes in the UK, which if a higher proportion of Olympic funding was dedicated to Winter Sports we would be much more successful. On average a Team GB Winter Sports athlete gets 17% of the UK Sport funding compared to a Summer Athlete. We are a skiing nation with just under 1million people taking a skiing holiday last season... It is truly a mass participation sport, so why don't the athletes get the funding?

Anyway, I did my first Ski Cross race of the season last weekend today in Austria, a Europa Cup Race... Oh my gosh...I think I am mad...this sport is ridiculous! Hurling myself off 25 meter jumps to land on a patch of ice! Pretty scary first race and the weather was very poor, but looking forward to putting the nerves behind me ready for the first World Cup of the winter in Italy on this Saturday!

Before I go I must thank Matt Humphreys at HEAD for my equipment this year and Colin and Solutions4Feet for custom fitting my boots for nice a snug race fit!

Take care,
Em

17 November 2010

I would like to say a MASSIVE thank you to Ladies Ski Club for their continued sponsorship support! The financial support they have provided to me in the past and continue to provide to me make a massive difference and allow me to continue competing on the Ski Cross World Cup Circuit. It mean's so much!!

If you would like to support Ladies Ski Club or make a donation to this worthy skiing charity please visit www.ladiesskiclub.org

Em x

17 November 2010

preparations for the coming season...

I've been so busy and now I'm in Saas Fee for pre World Cup season training and I can't wait for the season to kick off in Italy in just under 6 weeks time!!

So what have I been up to since August...

I was so stoked with my results in Argentina... great training and races. It was great to do two races in the off season as it gave me the focus ready for the winter. Argentina is a beautiful country and Peter Whelan and I managed to get two days to see some sights! Unfortunately the return journey didn't run as smoothly and after 4 days travelling due to delays and air strikes we eventually returned home for a much needed massage!

September was a busy month once I returned to the UK. Between training, working and sorting my equipment I won a local achievement in sport award, which was great and I had another sport presentation evening in October! It's nice to get a dress and high heals on now again... it makes a difference from my trainers and ski boots!

I recently did a motivational speech at another awards ceremony, which was really good fun and gave me a chance to say thank you to all the people who have supported me over the years... if it wasn't for all the people around me, supporting me I wouldn't be in the position I am today!

I have been asked to be a North East Girls Active Ambassador, to act as a role model to try and inspire and encourage more girls to take part in sport. This was a great honour for me as being active is something I am very passionate about and I love sharing the experiences I have had in sport as it has given me so many opportunities.

Winter preparations began a couple of weeks ago and I have my 'UK food box' ready for the coming season... all those essential UK products including Brown Sauce!!...
And no need to worry about tea this year, as the french apartment is already stacked with the Lifeboat tea... I think we will be everyones best friends this winter with the best brew and Dave's (my boy friend) homemade cakes... everyone will be visiting!

I will be carrying on working with Lifeboat tea on their Extreme Tea campaign which I am totally stoked about as the Ski Cross World Cup season approaches... I have really enjoyed being an ambassador and challenging myself drinking tea in some random places. Lifeboat Tea's continued sponsorship is a MASSIVE help to me! Lifeboat Tea does a great job raising money for the RNLI who do a fab job saving lives!!

The picture is me in Argentina over a cup of Lifeboat Tea! Hopefully you'll see me on Eurosport this coming season with my Lifeboat Tea! And don't forget to check out the Lifeboat Tea facebook page... http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lifeboat-Tea/178679812401 and post your Extreme Tea drinking photos!

Anyway, I'm off to bed now and it'll be back to the slopes early tomorrow morning for some more training!

Em x

4 september 2010

a busy summer and extreme tea

I thought it was about time I wrote another blog and let you know what I've been up to for the last month or so. I've been really busy, finishing work, presenting awards, lots of training in the gym, Lifeboat Tea Extreme Tea campaign, MK SnoZone and my best friends wedding!

Back at the beginning of July I was invited as a celebrity guest at Durham Johnston School sports presentation evening, where I was given the honour of handing out some of the awards to many budding sports stars!  It was a huge privileged to be part of such a great event!

I've been training hard with John, my new strength and conditioning coach who has been putting me through my paces and making sure I will be ready to go for the winter!  I've also been doing some work with Daniel Cleal at Vitality Life Fitness who is based in Brighton. He has been focusing on my posture and movement efficiency, making sure everything is working as effectively as it can.  With Daniel I have done a lot of corrective exercise and seen massive improvements in my basic posture through working with him... This guy is a miracle worker!

Lara at Lifeboat Tea (my new sponsor) sent me a load of Lifeboat Tea stash to promote their "Extreme Tea" campaign which I am an ambassador for! So keep an eye for me in the orange colours of Lifeboat Tea! The "Extreme Tea" campaign was launched just over a month ago and through them I had my first page 3 appearance in the Sunday Sun... Fully clothed I may add... Click here for the link to the news story!  I was a great news story, but I must apologise to my current ski sponsor Head, goggle sponsor Big Bear/ POC and clothing sponsor Animal... The news paper used a very old photo of me without my knowledge with products I no longer endorse... Sorry Guys!

Last week I was at Milton Keynes SnoZone helping out at a combined Ski and Boarder Cross camp.  The camp provided an opportunity for young budding skiers and snow boarders to try out Ski and Boarder Cross and also for me to introduce the world of skiing to Lifeboat Tea and the Extreme Tea Campaign! We had a mini Extreme photo shoot to see who could get the best shot whilst skiing, but unfortunately my photo skills were lacking!! Click here for the photos.

One of my best friends, Dee got married last weekend. Wow, what a stress!! I won't be getting married for a while!  I was blindly buying suits for my boyfriend 1 day before the wedding hoping they would fit... The suit fitted, but 20 minutes before the wedding I was in a local supermarket getting a shirt and tie as my shopping skills lacked in the shirt size front! Anyway, I made it to the wedding just in time!  The day came together, my best friend looked beautiful and everyone had a perfect day!

Well, I must dash... I'm busy booking flights to Argentina to compete in two ski cross races at the beginning of September. It's all go now and my new Lifeboat Tea bag is packed and ready for it's first trip of many Ski Cross races!

If you want to see any of the photos from the summer click here.

30 March 2010

end of season history making

I can’t tell you how stoked I am with my recent history making… being the first British female ever to win a Europa Cup Ski event! My win took place in Val Thorens just over a week ago. It has been such a great confidence boost after a roller coaster of emotions this season; the disappointment of not being selected for the Winter Olympics and coming back from injury! It was great to get my form back and show what I can do and achieve!! I am looking forward to building on this form and getting even stronger over the summer!

My season ended at the French Champs in Megeve on Thursday (It was supposed to be Saturday in Switzerland, but the race was cancelled) where we had the French team including Marion the Olympic Bronze medalist competing! The spring snow made it difficult for the course builders, but they did a fab job, designed a great course and kept the event running extremely smoothly! We had a great team at the event consisting of 8 Brits and it was great to have such a team feeling! Unfortunately I made a few mistakes in my qualification but managed to hold on kamikaze style all the way down and squeezed into the semi-finals! A poor start gate made my semi very difficult and I ended up missing a gate, which meant I qualified for the small final. A better start and strong skiing meant I came 2nd in the small final placing me 6th overall in the French Champs… another great result to finish off my season! My teammates also had some top results with Craig coming 5th, Pete 7th and Gus 9th! Britain was dominating… not a familiar picture in British winter sports, but we have certainly been up there in Ski Cross in recent weeks!!

I’ve been back in Meribel since Friday and will be here for a few weeks coaching younger British Alpine skiers at the British Alpine Championships and ski instructing to get those much needed pennies before I have to say good bye to the snow and hit the UK and the gym!

Take care and I hope you have enjoyed following me through this tough and history-making season!!!

Em x

17 March 2010

The Swiss are really Ski Cross proactive, so last week I was looking forward to the 2 World Cups they had organised! The events were really well publicised and off the back off the new Swiss Olympic Gold medallist Michael Schimd there were loads of spectators for what should have been some really fun races!!

Unfortunately I was driving back from Geneva Airport after returning from the Swedish World Cup and my car tyre blew on the motorway! I wanted to be a princess and stay in my car to be rescued, but I knew it wouldn't happen on a Sunday at midnight! Therefore, I got out my car and went to change the spare wheel, knowing I was leaving for Switzerland on the Monday morning. Unfortunately I didn't know my own strength and managed to snap the locking bolt when trying to remove it, so there was no chance of getting the wheel off... typical! Luckily a friend came to collect me and I arranged a lift to the Swiss World Cup races with the French Olympian Chloe Georges who lives near me in The Three Valleys (thanks Chloe)!! Whilst driving to Switzerland I managed to get the car towed to a depot... not the perfect preparation for a World Cup! The car is still in the depot until the new part arrives from the UK and I can change the tyre!

Anyway, I arrived in Grindelwald last Tuesday where things went from bad to worse. In training I crashed and was skidooed to the medical centre to find I ruptured the ligament in my right thumb, but the extent of the damage couldn’t be determined... great! I need to say at this point a big thank you to Suzanne (my physio for the Swiss races) who took me to the hospital and arranged for a cast to be put on my thumb and moulded to the shape of my ski pole so I could still race. It worked and last Wednesday I qualified 31st making the heats. It wasn't a great result for me, I was tentative on the course because of the crash, but I was stoked to make the heats! Due to bad weather last Thursday the heats and finals were delayed until Friday, but on finals day I felt pretty relaxed and ready to give it my all. In my heat I got out in 2nd place at the start, but about half way down the course Christine Manhard (Germany) over took me mid air... it was an awesome pass, but I had no chance of catching her again and ended up finishing 3rd in my heat and therefore didn't advance to the next round. However, I was really happy with my start considering the state of my thumb and even happier to eventually place 29th overall!

Following the race, I pack my bags and we were off to the next Swiss stop, Meiringen. Mieringen produced a great course! It reminded me of the Olympic course in Cypress... loads of features, and SO much fun to ski, I couldn't wipe the smile off my face! Qualification, which was last Saturday went ok, but a big mistake cost me some time so I only qualified 28th. I was still stoked at making the heats and super excited to be able to ski the course again in the heats against 3 other athletes! At Grindelwald and Miringen I teamed up with Mitchy (New Zealand) and Sami (Australia) to share a coach/ ski tech and we couldn’t believe it when we saw the draw for our heat! It consisted of me, Mitchey, Sami and Fanny Smith (Switzerland)! Yesterday morning, finals day, our ski tech was a little stressed having to put us all in our skis at the start gate for our heat, but “Super Jeff” did it with ease (Thanks Jeff)!! In the heat I had a pretty slow start, not surprising with a broken thumb, but managed to get back in the mix and overtake Sami into 3rd. I had a little battle with Mitchey on the way down for 2nd, but she held me off and I only managed to place 3rd in the heat, eventually finishing 28th overall. On reflection I was really happy with my skiing and to finish my involvement on the World Cup circuit on a high. And I can’t wait to get back in the heats for the last few Europa Cup and National Cup races of this season!

Em x

6 March 2010

hot off the press - world cups kick off again, branas, sweden!

After a little down time skiing powder and instructing 4 yr olds in Meribel to re-boost the skiing funds I am currently in Branas, Sweden where the World Cup has just finished.

I travelled through 5 countries in one day to arrive there Wednesday evening… France, Switzerland, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden… What a journey!

The course at Branas is a great course with lots of long gliding sections and some great large jumps. The course felt pretty good on Thursday and yesterday, and more importantly I felt completely relaxed… I think the break gave me some time to relax and be Emily, less thinking and more go go go on the slopes! This is how I perform best, when I am relaxed and confident and my head is turned off (so to speak)!

My new Ski Tech Jeff missed flights but eventually arrived midnight on Thursday night/ Friday morning after 40 hours of travelling from the USA and professional as ever cracked straight on with prepping the skis and made them nice and fast. He only had 3 hours sleep before the qualification yesterday… Jeff, you are a legend!!

A couple of mistakes cost me some time in the qualification, but I managed to get a season best result finishing in 21st position! I was stoked with the result although it does feel a little bitter sweet when you come in front of other competitors who qualified 1 week previous at the Olympic games, but that has shown the British Olympic Association that they should have accepted my invitation, where I could have shown the nation what I can do in the sport!!

Unfortunately due to a smaller ladies field in Branas over the last few days, FIS ran with the top 16 qualifiers for today’s heats and finals, but at least my 21st is cemented in the results list! I hope you manage to watch it on Eurosport 2 today! Well done to the winners Ophelie David and Mike Schimd

Next stop is Switzerland where I am travelling to tomorrow for my final 2 World Cups of the season. I am looking forward to them and continuing to improve on my form and build some more confidence ready for a good start next winter!

Em x

 

25 February 2010

from alpe d'huez to north america and olympic disappointment

I haven’t written a proper blog for a while… I’ve had a lot on my plate over the last month or so… a roller coaster of emotions! I hope you enjoy!!…

Straight after Les Contamines (seems an age ago now) I headed across to Alpe D'Huez for the next World Cup. This was the first time they have hosted a World Cup, so I didn't know what to expect with the course. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw it on inspection! Quite downhill like, with some huge jumps. I wasn't quite sure if I was going to make the gaps, but gave it everything and it felt awesome skiing down in the training! Unfortunately one double gap jump (about a 25 metre gap!) caught me out in the first training run and I didn't quite make the landing, landing pretty hard on the flat, which was a little too much for my knee to take. That night it was pretty swollen but luckily Rhian my masseuse was with me so she worked on it and strapped it solidly for race day.

As this was the last Olympic qualification race, I wasn't going to let my knee stop me skiing! I had a great training run before qualification and felt great, but unfortunately qualification didn’t go quite go so well and two mistakes crucified my speed and time... some races just don't go your way... but that is sport for you!

Ski Sunday came to the event and I did a couple of interviews with them, but frustratingly the interviews were never shown! Ski Sunday would have been the perfect platform to publicise the British Athletes as well as the sport to you the British public and see this amazing new sport on your TV screens!! In any case, with the men's and women's Olympics races on TV over the last few days I hope you have all got hooked (just like I've been over the years)!

I left Alpe D'Huez a little frustrated and headed back to Meribel to see some medical professionals and take a much needed rest for my knee... mixed opinions on the knee, but it was feeling better day by day so I was back skiing in no time!

With the knee feeling better I made a last minute decision to head across the pond to the two world cup races in USA and Canada… When I say last minute, I booked multi city flights 10pm on the Saturday evening for Rhian and me to head to Canada at 6am the following morning!!! Spontaneous, I know, but very exciting and we quickly packed, had a few hours sleep and headed to the airport ready for the 14 hour flight to Toronto, Canada!

Arriving in Toronto we picked up the hire car... packed it to the brim with skis, massage table and bags and tried to work out which side of the road we drove on before setting off on the 2 hour transfer to Blue Mountain Resort, Collingwood!

Blue Mountain is pretty bizarre, just one mountain, which comes to life a night with floodlit skiing till 10pm. What a strange sight... it almost looked like 7 dry ski slopes side by side under the floodlights!

The course was pretty sweet with lots of gliding and great jumps and so I was looking forward to race day! Unfortunately the snow fell hard on race day and although we got to race, it was delayed as the organisers tried to clear the snow from the racing line. Typical... It got a hold just before I left the start gate and in the space of 5 minutes another inch of snow fell and laid on the course... fresh snow isn't fast snow! Off I went with a nice solid run but unfortunately the time was not reflective. The snow had affected it so much, that everyone after me to the last racer were a good 3 seconds slower than expected due to the new snow... but that is nature for you, sometimes it works in your favour and sometimes it doesn't and that day it didn't!

On a positive note I qualified for the final heats ... I was stoked! This was the first finals I had been in since Canada last year where I injured my knee! I couldn't wait... skiing a ski cross course alone is fun, but skiing a ski cross course with 3 other people is insane and such an adrenaline buzz! I didn’t make it through the first heat, but I was so happy to have achieved my best result of the season so far finishing a respectable 32nd.

Straight after Blue Mountain we flew Toronto to Montreal, picked up a new hire car and headed to USA! Customs was interesting as Rhian and I arrived in our novelty sun glasses and little knowledge of our accommodation in Lake Placid... but they worked out we were there for good reasons and let us in to the country!

Whilst at Lake Placid we stayed in the USA Olympic Training Centre, which had great facilities. We could spin after skiing and my legs felt pretty fresh... and the 24 hour food hall access was pretty funky too... the Americans can make Brownies, FACT!

The Lake Placid course was jam packed with rollers, an interesting course but it didn't leave much room for error. With 4 riders racing head to head, there were a few accidents and a few fellow competitors received serious injuries, which will stop them from going to the Vancouver Winter Olympics... my heart goes out to them as I know exactly how that feels!

Anyway I qualified for the heats… second race in a row, which I was totally stoked about and ended up finishing 25th overall!! My best result of the season by far!! It is great knowing I have improved race on race this season since my knee injury last year in Canada.

At Lake Placid I learnt that the BOA (British Olympic Association) declined my invitation for the Vancouver Winter Olympics, as they didn't think I was 100% fit after my injury! This has been very hard to accept, knowing people in suits were making decisions about my future and career when I feel they don’t know the sport. It is extremely frustrating, but I can rest knowing I tried and did everything and anything possible to get fitness and strength back after my injury. I am really proud of myself that I am back racing World Cup level so soon after such a huge injury, but it is sickening to know that riders ranked lower than me in the world will be on the start line because the BOA declined my invitation! I am not the only british skier to have been affected: The whole selection process for alpine and free style skiing has been a shambles due to mismanagement and a lack of understanding by the BOA and the former Snow Sport GB.

My heart goes out to Flo Astier, the French ski cross racer who had a very bad crash in Lake Placid where he is being treated for a broken neck, 2 broken hips and broken ribs... good luck for a speedy recovery! X

Em X

11 January 2010

the new year begins... and it's world cup busy!
Sunday, 10 January 2010

Happy New Year to you all! Hope you all had a great festive season and ate too much and partied hard! I too, ate way too much but restricted myself on the partying as the World Cup races started straight after New Year!

As soon as the New Year started my manager Dan and I headed to Austria for the St Johann World Cup, a spectacular night event with over 5,000 tickets sold for the evening race. The course was good, packed full of jumps and features with a big 4 metre final jump, which threw you about 30 metres!! Unfortunately, the course was injected with ice, so it was like skiing on an ice rink and you couldn't get any grip at all. Injecting is often done in Alpine racing, however in Ski Cross it is not ideal as landing jumps on blue ice is extremely hard on the body and can cause a lot of injuries. Despite the problems with the snow the race was good and I got from top to bottom in one piece which was a feat after taking a big tumble in my final training and badly bruising my hip! Unfortunately the course took the better of a few of the riders with a total of 4 blood wagons and 2 helicopters to rescue the damaged riders. One or two of the injuries very serious... get well soon to you all!!

Austria... tick: And then it was back to France for the next 2 stops on the World Cup tour.

Dan was supposed to fly back to the UK after Austria, but unfortunately for his work and fortunately for me the airports in the UK were closed due to the snow so he was able to come and help me at the next race... perfect!

1st French stop was Les Contamines... always a great fun course, and this year was no exception, a course built full of features very similar to the Olympic course in Vancouver and very flowing! I really enjoyed the training, but it wasn't meant to be in the race and I didn't qualify for the finals. I was totally gutted and upset at not making the finals as I really wanted to race head to head on the course! However, Douige my coach and Dan gave me some words of wisdom after the race and pointed out that I am improving race on race and the areas I can further improve upon to get more speed (bring on Alpe d’Huez)!

I just want to say a big thank you to Rhian from Ski Physique (www.skiphysique.com) who provides me with massage, stretching and training to help me perform to my best. She always works her magic and my body felt great and ready to race, so if you ever need any advice, help or support to help you be physically ready for skiing, Rhian is your girl!

2nd French stop is the Alpe d'Huez World Cup, where Ski Sunday are going to come and film and hopefully show all you guys in the UK what we really get up to as Ski Cross athletes!

Hope your all enjoying the UK snow (check out his awesome picture: BBC News - Frozen Britain seen from above)! Have fun and keep warm!

Em x

24 December 2009

I am looking forward to a mini break over the festive period, as it was a busy day Tuesday… 2nd World Cup race in Italy followed by an 8-hour drive back to Meribel in France. I used the 2nd World Cup race for training and was really happy to complete the course and put down a time. I am now a lot more confident and looking forward to the next World Cup in Austria in the New Year! Anyway, I arrived back in Meribel to find a full apartment… my parents, sister and her boyfriend and of course lots of presies under the Christmas Tree! Christmas in the Alpes is always fun and I can’t wait for my Christmas dinner with all the trimmings followed by my mini Christmas cake courtesy of Animal: Thanks guys, it is awesome!! And then it’ll be back to lots of training in preparation for Austria. By the way I was back at the doctors today having my fifth(!) hole drilled in my big toenail to relieve yet more blood build up from behind it! Well, bye for now and I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Lets hope it keeps snowing!!!!

21 December 2009

minus 20 degrees and the season has started!
Well the season is underway! I was doing more training with Dougie (R21) in Tignes and then it was back to Meribel for the opening of the resort and to settle in to my winter base. I had a great photo-shoot with Adam Johnston (www.photoski.eu) and Martin Jeffers over the last week along with great snow and blue sky’s, which was awesome fun... I can't wait for the powder to arrive to get some more shots in (watch this space for some new pic’s)! I had one last training day on jumps in The 3 Valleys then I set off for 2 training days in Austria before the first World Cup here in San Candido, Italy! The season seems to have come around so quickly, but I can't wait to get going again! The course here in Italy is good with some great features, there are a few jumps with flat landings which can cause a lot of impact in the legs, so used the first training sessions and race to get more jump practice in and really test the knee… There is one more race on Tuesday so I am looking forward to that! Unfortunately in the first training sessions I had some toe bash and ended up with a hematoma under my big toe nail (in English… lots of blood under my toe nail!) that was causing me a lot of pain and I was in tears when both Dougie, Adam and I were trying to get my ski boot on yesterday morning. We eventually got it on and I went and inspected the course, but before the race I had to go to the ambulance to get the doctor to drill a couple of holes through the nail to release the pressure... It sounds horrible but it totally worked so I was able to get back up the hill to ski. I might need another drill tomorrow! Well I better go and prepare my skis for the race on Tuesday! Catch you later.